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[Blood Diamonds]

To be honest if I was forced to play a homosexual I probably wouldn't buy the game as it doesn't appeal to me and kind of irks my senses.I have buddies who are gay and it doesn't bother me however being forced to be one would truly be a deal breaker for me.

With that said if they gave the option of playing a hetero or homo it wouldn't be phased by it one bit, as you are given the freedom to choose your own path as it should be. Kind of like the romance options in Mass Effect.........never went that route but it was nice knowing that players of other interests could do as they please and not affect me in a single way.

Of course this idea swings both ways as I am sure these uber buff hetero guys that only attract the opposite sex being forced upon them probably makes them feel the same way as I do being forced to play as a homo.

Why does it kind of irk your senses?
How does playing a video game with a gay character force you become gay? lmao
If you play star fox do you become a talking fox?

 

[nbthedude]

I can't help but roll my eyes when I see my fellow gays constantly say this in this exact order. A lot of things define us, race, wealth, geography, I don't see why being gay shouldn't either. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging our differences.

I think it's clear what I meant. I meant, as I went on to clarify, the my sexuality isn't the most imporatant attribute in terms of how I would define myself.

It's really no different than saying "I love videogames but they don't define my entire identity." I see identity politics as ridiculious as conversations about "Are you are real hardcore gamer?"

 

[Delio]

Not to call you out, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say "I have a gay friend, but..." in a conversation. It just irks me.

Yeah whenever someone says "I have gay friends, but" it just paints a picture for me.

 

[ViciousDS]

Not to call you out, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say "I have a gay friend, but..." in a conversation. It just irks me.

really? do you tend to avoid any homo's period.....I mean hell the greatest person to cut my parents hair was gay........dude was insane at styling.......

 

[Beth Cyra]

what is this game, i want to play it.

The writing looks terrible.

Enchanted Arms. Total piece of garbage IMO.

However one of the side characters being gay wasn't the cause, however neither could he save it as his character was all over the place. It was just a POS.

 

[EscoBlades]

no, it's awkward to roleplay as a woman............just weird.

Is it awkward to roleplay as a green dinosaur? Or as a black/ latino/ Native American man?

 

[Brainfreeze]

I'm gay and I literally could not care less. It's dumb as caring that most of the movies I watch feature straight people. Most people in society are straight. My sexuality doesn't define me and everything I do, nor is it even the most important part of my identity.

I also love guacamole and to me caring whether or not there are more gay characters matters about as much as whether or not guacamole is featured in more videogames.

In fact what irritates me FAR MORE than "heteronormativity" is some obnoxious activist that tries to speak for me and say what "gay people care about" or how gay people should feel about some issue. I read that story that Polygon wrote calling Nintendo a bigot on behalf of all gay people and I wanted to tell her to fuck off. And I don't even like Nintendo anymore and haven't for some time. I'm certainly no apologist for them but I can't stand people who push bulshit identity politics in my face. I dislike them more than I dislike biggots. At least I can ignore the biggots. It's hard to ignore someone who is obnoxious enough to claim to speak on your behalf.

I wouldn't mind seeing more gay characters, sure. If the designers feel like they could do something interesting with characters who happen to be gay and they have a good story to tell that's fine by me. I'd be interested in what they'd do with it. But fuck off to anyone who wants to force them to design more gay characters in order to promote inclusiveness. That shit is condescending.

I think this post needs a bit more attention too. It's the kind of mentality pointed out here that leads to diverse characters being super scrutinized and discourages more from being made.

Everybody cooling their jets and focusing on the positives instead of the negatives would do wonders for this issue, I think.

 

[Masquerader]

Ask yourselves this: If Exdeath was gay, would his homosexuality be his defining quality? Not quite. His defining quality is how he babbles on about the void constantly, and has a fantastically cool suit of armour. If Sauron was gay, would anyone care?

Granted, these are silly examples, but a character's sexuality is not their defining characteristic. Thus, it doesn't matter, really.

 

[malfcn]

Bring on more diversity. But do it in a way that isn't a token gesture, or trying to be hip or faddish.

 

[TurnipFritters]

It doesn't.

But it does.

I've gotten in many arguments about a main character being gay.

The logic of people arguing against having a character being gay is "It doesn't matter if they're gay or straight, but why are they making the character gay? I just don't see the point of making the character gay."

They use the argument of it not mattering it spin it to make the character straight because they connect making a character gay with people pushing an agenda and going against their personal (horribly outdated) sense of moral guidance.

It's simply moving the goalpost. It's no longer "in" to bash gays, so the next best thing is to pretend you accept people being gay, while heavily pushing that the topic is never brought up in any manner.

Yo this was on the first page and it is a Quality Post.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

Making a character female, gay, black or whatever doesn't make them good. Diversity for the sake of it doesn't just magically make the game better or enhances the story. Good design and good writing does that.

It isn't even about story quality. It's about inclusion and representation. A Triple-AAA game featuring a black lesbian woman could have the worst writing in the world, but at the very least it would say "It's okay to have this minority represented in games."

It's cool that you don't mind what a character is, but unfortunately a lot of people do. That's why minorities need to be featured in mainstream media like movies and videogames. It makes them become seen as mainstream and "normal" as well, instead of as an unknown "other".

 

[RM8]

How do you know he is straight? (serious question, I know nothing about this game)

Because he's not wearing leather or wigs and stuff of course! He had a cat girlfriend, but I think that was removed.

 

[Chatin]

There can be opportunities to portray these characters in certain games, but it would be unrealistic to expect the lead in a game like Call of Duty to be openly gay. The developers need to know who their demographic is and know that games like these are the power-fantasy equivalents to action movies like Rambo and Predator. The vast majority of the demographic is straight males who will want to play as kickass, straight males. Why should the developer ignore their fans and demographic to serve an audience that might make up a tiny fraction of the sales?

It takes games like Gone Home, The Last of Us, and other titles driven by story where the demographic is going to be much more diverse, and making inclusions like this won't alienate their target demo and the inclusion can get the proper room to breathe and develop and not just be a marketing ploy.

The best you should hope for is blockbuster titles where the sexuality simply isn't discussed.

 

[Replicant]

It's a bit weird how all of a sudden, artistic integrity becomes central when discussing these representation issues when:
- we bitch all day long about things we'd like to change in games (we want them to pander to us I guess).
- these AAA games are designed by committee and have hundreds of people working on them. It's not like we don't know about that considering we discuss budgets and credits length on a regular basis. It's still a creative medium but let's not pretend 90% of games are the result of the creative vision of a single mastermind.
- Most games have fuck all to tell about their characters or their world. They're not about big ideas, they're not about character development and they're certainly not about realism. But all of a sudden, minorities are a threat to their integrity.

This feels like GTA V all over again.

It's always like this. Everytime someone brings up the issues of lack representation for minority on all fronts, be it race or sexuality, there's always some gamers who claimed that games are not the place to do it, "but but but artistic integrity", and some other myriad bullshit reasons.

I once asked why a game like RE6, which took place mostly in China, couldn't have a few asian characters as opposed to just one that's inserted as 'extra gameplay' and not surprisingly some people claimed that race does not matter. Oh. Funny how it suddenly matters when it comes to "artistic integrity". Ditto with Mass Effect 3 and the inclusion of gay characters. Some were being openly vile and stated that they don't want the gay in their game and don't see how sexuality matters. Again, are we talking about the same game where you get to sex a blue alien?

The hypocrisy of some gamers when it comes to representation of minority in gaming is astoundingly disgusting.

 

[kitchenmotors]

really? do you tend to avoid any homo's period.....I mean hell the greatest person to cut my parents hair was gay........dude was insane at styling.......

Dude, I'm gay. And stop saying homo.

 

[zeldablue]

The bait and switch thing would be awesome, honestly.

This might be ignorance on my part, but I feel as though most gamers are fine with gay women if that woman is attractive and sexualized enough. I honestly feel it is the gay men that gamers are truly afraid and homophobic about.

 

[Beth Cyra]

what does this even mean?

"Equality"? in proportion to what? The population at large? The statistical portion of gays to straights in a given society? In a sense there already is equality. Gay community is a minority, thus a minority of games will predominantly feature gay characters. Isn't this already a form of "equality"?

Or, by the way you worded your statement, it seems you want there to be "equal" choices, that is, as many games featuring gays/women/ect as there are other types of games. But this isn't "equality" in the sense that it's supposed to be used here. This is just an "equal amount of games of all types" and that isn't Equality. That would only serve to tip the scales in another direction and we'd have more and more games that majority of consumers wouldn't buy because it doesn't relate to them, thus leading to an the same issue in reverse.

Don't confuse the meaning of Equality with the mathematical term Equal. They are different and have different implications.

This would only become a problem if the amount of Straight White Male based games decreased as a result of the other games being created.

More equal representation doesn't mean that suddenly all the other games wouldn't be created, just means more games for everyone who is looking for characters of other types being there for them.

 

[Eusis]

what is this game, i want to play it.

The writing looks terrible.

Enchanted Arms.

Has the bonus of being from the Dark Souls developers.

Spoiler

That's gotta FUBAR some people's expectations if they don't look deeper.

 

[Devolution]

Making a character female, gay, black or whatever doesn't make them good. Diversity for the sake of it doesn't just magically make the game better or enhances the story

No shit, what's your point?

 

[ViciousDS]

Why does it kind of irk your senses?
How does playing a video game with a gay character force you become gay? lmao
If you play star fox do you become a talking fox?

um, did I say it forced me to become gay? No where in that post did I say it's turning me into a homo. I'm just stating that when I play games such as Mass Effect.....I'm having relations with a women.........it would be weird as fuck if I leaned towards the guy characters.....sure it doesn't effect, but you really think I'm going to play a roleplaying game to have a homo as a main character, absolutely not.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

really? do you tend to avoid any homo's period.....I mean hell the greatest person to cut my parents hair was gay........dude was insane at styling.......

yeah, calling gay people homos sure paints a picture of you being accepting.

 

[Riposte]

Checking back, I'm going to stand by my post.

I don't understand how your link bolsters your position on what SE's thinks. There will be another Tomb Raider (and likely Hitman, Sleeping Dogs), because the new game was something more than a failure to SE. It simply wasn't enough to reverse the situation SE found themselves that year like they were hoping.


It is true developers (no reason to limit it to "AAA") are not compelled to introduce gay characters to the point where the only thing stopping them is financial risk. It would be trivial to fit in gay characters in some of the biggest games despite these barriers, although openly gay may become more difficult depending on your definition of "open". There are no doubt games where the only differences between a straight and gay protag are maybe three or four lines that happen six hours in the campaign - in a market where the great majority of players rarely even clear the campaign (or maybe even reach six hours). Do you really think people are going to stop playing Call of Duty's wildly successful multiplayer because in a campaign most will never see the end of, maybe at some point towards the end the main soldier dude corrects a "her" into a "him when asked if he has anyone back home and then they nonchalantly move on doing some over-the-top soldier shit - what the game is actually about.

 

[Dany]

um, did I say it forced me to become gay? No where in that post did I say it's turning me into a homo. I'm just stating that when I play games such as Mass Effect.....I'm having relations with a women.........it would be weird as fuck if I leaned towards the guy characters.....sure it doesn't effect, but you really think I'm going to play a roleplaying game to have a homo as a main character, absolutely not.

smh

 

[ViciousDS]

Is it awkward to roleplay as a green dinosaur? Or as a black/ latino/ Native American man?

uh, fuck this.............I'm out, some people in this thread took that post way too literally. Will just leave the discussion as it is.........


EDIT: apparently saying homo short for homosexual is as offensive as dropping the f bomb................and I don't mean fuck.

 

[SirShandy]

To be honest if I was forced to play a homosexual I probably wouldn't buy the game as it doesn't appeal to me and kind of irks my senses.I have buddies who are gay and it doesn't bother me however being forced to be one would truly be a deal breaker for me.

With that said if they gave the option of playing a hetero or homo it wouldn't be phased by it one bit, as you are given the freedom to choose your own path as it should be. Kind of like the romance options in Mass Effect.........never went that route but it was nice knowing that players of other interests could do as they please and not affect me in a single way.

Of course this idea swings both ways as I am sure these uber buff hetero guys that only attract the opposite sex being forced upon them probably makes them feel the same way as I do being forced to play as a homo.

It seems like a very limited criteria if you're choosing what games you play purely by the type of protagonist you control, especially if the majority of the game is likely spent killing things.

 

[EscoBlades]

um, did I say it forced me to become gay? No where in that post did I say it's turning me into a homo. I'm just stating that when I play games such as Mass Effect.....I'm having relations with a women.........it would be weird as fuck if I leaned towards the guy characters.....sure it doesn't effect, but you really think I'm going to play a roleplaying game to have a homo as a main character, absolutely not.

Just....stop. Please.

 

[Delio]

um, did I say it forced me to become gay? No where in that post did I say it's turning me into a homo. I'm just stating that when I play games such as Mass Effect.....I'm having relations with a women.........it would be weird as fuck if I leaned towards the guy characters.....sure it doesn't effect, but you really think I'm going to play a roleplaying game to have a homo as a main character, absolutely not.

Just cant stay away from saying homo huh?

 

[badcrumble]

I think the "power fantasy" thing is actually kind of a problem in a lot of ways.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

um, did I say it forced me to become gay? No where in that post did I say it's turning me into a homo. I'm just stating that when I play games such as Mass Effect.....I'm having relations with a women.........it would be weird as fuck if I leaned towards the guy characters.....sure it doesn't effect, but you really think I'm going to play a roleplaying game to have a homo as a main character, absolutely not.

"To be honest if I was forced to play a homosexual I probably wouldn't buy the game as it doesn't appeal to me and kind of irks my senses.I have buddies who are gay and it doesn't bother me however being forced to be one would truly be a deal breaker for me."

 

[Devolution]

Anyway there's some kind of irony in saying that a group vocalizing their desire for more and better quality representation in a medium is some kind of show of force and should cease. It's no more a show of force then standing outside of a business with a sign, they're free to ignore your desires and you're free to vocalize them. If a large enough group assembles, then maybe they have to take pause and reflect on their stance a bit. But there is no force. People acting like there is a group of gay banditos holding pink desert eagles up to writer's heads sure is hilarious in its ignorance.

 

[-PXG-]

No shit, what's your point?

I made it in that post and previous ones in this thread.

 

[QisTopTier]

"To be honest if I was forced to play a homosexual I probably wouldn't buy the game as it doesn't appeal to me and kind of irks my senses.I have buddies who are gay and it doesn't bother me however being forced to be one would truly be a deal breaker for me."

You guys are spinning him too hard. He's saying forced to be the character not forced to be gay. Though I guess I could see how it could be misunderstood.

 

[SoraanTribal]

um, did I say it forced me to become gay? No where in that post did I say it's turning me into a homo. I'm just stating that when I play games such as Mass Effect.....I'm having relations with a women.........it would be weird as fuck if I leaned towards the guy characters.....sure it doesn't effect, but you really think I'm going to play a roleplaying game to have a homo as a main character, absolutely not.

Can you please stop saying things like "a homo"?

 

[Son of Cervantes]

AAA games are meant to appeal to the mainstream, the largest possible audience of consumers. That's why most lead characters in these types of games are straight white males. That's why the marketing people didn't want Elly front and center in The Last of Us cover art and the Naughty Dog guys had to fight them on it. It's why the cover art for Bioshock Infinite features manly Booker and no Elizabeth. Because marketing guys have done their research and they know that the widest audience they can get has no problem playing as a straight white male.

Now, does this mean we'll never get gay leads in AAA games? No, but it means that the games with gay leads will probably be RPGs like Bioware's where the player has agency in regards to the character's sexual preferences.

It's the same reason why pretty much every blockbuster movie that doesn't star Will Smith or Denzel stars a white male.

Luckily, indie games exist, and are a great avenue for exploring other forms of storytelling, including having different types of lead characters.

 

[J10]

I don't really see or hear about gays begrudgingly playing as straight characters. Hmm.

 

[Jimnymebob]

What would people's reaction be if

Spoiler

Ellie

from

Spoiler

The Last of Us

(the character whose sexuality is explored in the AAA DLC that people have spoiled multiple times in this thread) was

Spoiler

the protagonist of the sequel, older, and dating and/or married to a male character, and the whole thing with Riley was just a spur of the moment thing out of young curiosity?

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

uh, fuck this.............I'm out, some people in this thread took that post way too literally. Will just leave the discussion as it is.........

The old "bail out after showing my ignorance" trick, huh

Just spend a little more time thinking in general and before you post in particular

 

[beercr8te]

I'm not interested in games with a gay protagonist in them.

 

[Sai-kun]

What would people's reaction be if

Spoiler

Ellie

from

Spoiler

The Last of Us

(the character whose sexuality is explored in the AAA DLC that people have spoiled multiple times in this thread) was

Spoiler

the protagonist of the sequel, older, and dating and/or married to a male character, and the whole thing with Riley was just a spur of the moment thing out of young curiosity?

I'd be disappointed.

Edit: I'd be disappointed if [AAA GAME DLC SPOILERS]

Spoiler

she treated Riley in her memory like she was nothing to her. If ND could somehow get the point across that yes, she did love/really like Riley, I would be okay with her being with whoever she wanted in the future.

I don't really see or hear about gays begrudgingly playing as straight characters. Hmm.

*raises hand* I complain about that shit in movies, too.

I'm not interested in games with a gay protagonist in them.

Drive-by? Or care to reason with us why?

 

[besada]

Uh, no.

This entire line of thought is both dangerous and poorly thought out.

No company is, or should be "responsible" for, promoting anything beyond what they already intend within an IP or game during development. The idea of an entertainment company being responsible or your (and others) perceived social ills is way off the mark. There shouldn't be a precedent telling companies (or anyone) what kind of things they should make. It immediately infringes upon creative freedom. This isn't the answer.

I assume if I check your post history, I'll find no complaints or suggestions about how games could or should have been better? Because my impression is that's almost entirely what we do here, talk about the mistakes made by developers and complain because they didn't give us what we wanted.

 

[Crowbear]

I'm not interested in games with a gay protagonist in them.

Thanks for the update. Care to elaborate on why?

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

I don't really see or hear about gays begrudgingly playing as straight characters. Hmm.

Not like they have any options to choose from anyway.

 

[TSM]

People are mentioning that some people might not want to play as a gay character, but the elephant in the room in the USA is that 73% of the population as of 2012 identify as Christians. Having lived for 5 years in central Louisiana I'd have to say that any fears major publishers have about a gay main character affecting sales of a major AAA game aren't unfounded.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

You guys are spinning him too hard. He's saying forced to be the character not forced to be gay. Though I guess I could see how it could be misunderstood.

If he's gonna come in here and make posts like that, don't you think he should be a bit more prepared to express and probably explain his opinion?

 

[kitchenmotors]

I'm not interested in games with a gay protagonist in them.

Ok, don't buy them then. But just because you're not interested in them doesn't mean that they shouldn't be made. Diversity is a good thing.

 

[Delio]

I'm not interested in games with a gay protagonist in them.

Can you give us a reason why you dont want to?

 

[Xater]

yeah, calling gay people homos sure paints a picture of you being accepting.

I was just about to say that there might be some other issue here.

 

[cm osi]

Ok, don't buy them then. But just because you're not interested in them doesn't mean that they shouldn't be made. Diversity is a good thing.

and since most of the people won't buy them no one is gonna make them. is that simple.

 

[Riposte]

I assume if I check your post history, I'll find no complaints or suggestions about how games could or should have been better? Because my impression is that's almost entirely what we do here, talk about the mistakes made by developers and complain because they didn't give us what we wanted.

Would you say wanting to have more gay characters and, let's say, wanting deeper combat mechanics are the same thing - a matter of taste?

 

[QisTopTier]

If he's gonna come in here and make posts like that, don't you think he should be a bit more prepared to express and probably explain his opinion?

I do honestly, but half the time people jump on people and spin things way to hard in how they see it instead of asking for clarification. People like being offended too much and it makes discussion harder :l

Though if something truely offensive is said then yeah blast the fuck away but at least explain why it's offensive as they might not understand